The Justice Department is removing several United States attorneys from their jobs, among them Carol C. Lam, the top federal prosecutor in San Diego, who led the corruption prosecution of former Representative Randy Cunningham. Justice Department officials said that Ms. Lam's dismissal had nothing to do with the prosecution of Mr. Cunningham, Republican of California, but was based on her overall record in prosecuting firearms violations and crimes along the California border with Mexico.
But Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said that Ms. Lam and Kevin V. Ryan, the United States attorney from San Francisco, among others, were being pushed out "without cause." Ms. Feinstein said on the Senate floor on January 16 that Ms. Lam, appointed in 2002, was "a straight shooter and a good prosecutor."
The Justice Department sent a letter defending its actions on January 16 to Ms. Feinstein and Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. "That on occasion in an organization as large as the Justice Department some United States attorneys are removed or are asked or encouraged to resign, should come as no surprise," the letter said. It added that no action had been taken against United States attorneys "to retaliate against them or interfere with or inappropriately influence a particular investigation, criminal prosecution or civil case."
Ms. Feinstein said the department might be removing the prosecutors to take advantage of a little-noticed provision in the 2006 reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act that expanded its authority to make indefinite interim appointments..(Source: David Johnston, The New York Times, Jan 17, 2007).